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POLITICO 44

WARREN, Mich. — The state that gave 54 percent of its vote to Barack Obama last November greeted his first return since the election with skepticism, doubt and anxiety about the future.

Obama, accompanied by his campaign manager, David Plouffe, on Air Force One, arrived Tuesday in this Detroit suburb, where one in five residents is unemployed, to face one of the most challenging audiences of his presidency.

The president came to Warren to unveil a new 10-year, $12 billion program to improve community colleges, but that topic was far down the list of priorities for residents who said their top concerns did not get beyond one word: jobs.

Obama stepped onto a small stage set up outside the entrance of Macomb Community College, and after receiving a notably lukewarm welcome, he declared, “It’s not the time to shrink from the challenges we face.”

“I don’t have to tell you that Michigan, in particular, has been hard hit,” Obama said. He strove to convey that jobs were his top priority, too — creating them, saving them and trying to find new ways to train for them.

“Those aren’t just numbers on a page,” he said, noting that high unemployment means if people haven’t lost a job themselves, they know someone who has. “Those are extraordinary hardships for families who’ve worked hard. ... I understand the frustrations that a lot of people have.”

Departing from his prepared text, Obama took on his critics.

“I love those folks who helped get us in this mess and now say, ‘This is Obama’s economy,’” he said. “That’s fine. Give it to me. ... My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.”

Emboldened by applause, Obama added, “I welcome the job. I want the responsibility.”

Obama is arguably in the midst of his toughest moment as president. With budget deficits and unemployment rising, criticism of his handling of the economy is mounting, as well. The adoring crowds that greeted him in the early months of his presidency gave way today to an audience that needed convincing.

Going into the speech, the Detroit News flatly said the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package was not working; the Detroit Free Press criticized his decision to focus his remarks on community colleges, rather than the economy and jobs; and the mayor of Warren went on the radio to rebuke Obama for delivering a speech instead of holding an unscripted town hall, as originally planned.

Obama rolled with the punches and echoed a warning he issued during the campaign — that some of the auto industry jobs Michigan has lost won’t be coming back.

“They are casualties of a changing economy,” he said. “And that only underscores the importance of generating new businesses and industries to replace the ones we’ve lost and of preparing our workers to fill the jobs they create. For even before this recession hit, we were faced with an economy that was simply not creating or sustaining enough new, well-paying jobs.”

That tied into Obama’s theme for the day: the need for new education programs to make a down payment on the country’s economic future, particularly in manufacturing states such as Michigan. He called for a four-pronged plan, the American Graduation Initiative, that he said “will reform and strengthen community colleges from coast to coast, so that they get the resources students and schools need — and the results workers and businesses demand.”

The plan calls for giving grants to community colleges, building partnerships between private-sector entities and community colleges, supporting research into the effectiveness of different kinds of job training, lending money to build and renovate schools and investing in online education.

Education is where the U.S. should place its “bet for the future,” Obama said, citing other education initiatives that have jolted the economy: President Abraham Lincoln’s grant program, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s GI Bill and President Harry Truman’s Commission on Higher Education.

Obama underscored his higher-education goal: that by 2020, the U.S. will have the largest number of college graduates of any country. His new proposal is “the most significant down payment yet” on achieving that, he said.

Readers' Comments (94)

Michigan was stupid enough to carry the idiot obama in the election and stupid enough to vote for the nut they have for govenor then maybe obama's selling out our country will wake them up. Hillary was SO RIGHT all obama brings to the table is a flowery speech!!

I happen to live in MI folks and it sure didn't start with Granholm or Obama. We've been losing jobs for 15 years or more. Michigan was an affluent state and a place where people loved to vacation on our beaches. Almost all of our jobs have been shipped overseas. Nothing is made here anymore. Everything you pick up ina store, if you buy things, says Made In China. My state is in a depression. In my 62 years of living, I have never seen things so dismal. President Obama didn't start this economc meltdown. It started a long time ago and now he's got to help fix it. I don't blame him or Granholm or the unions. Mistakes have been made in the highest reaches of our government and financial institutions. There is no easy fix to this mess. I hope none of you still living ina state with a relatively good economy never has to experience what Michigan is going through. It's a living hell trying to make a living here.

Obama and his "LIBERAL CLOWNS" are going after Sen. Kyl of Arizona for calling for a halt to the "PORKULUS MONEY". They are trying the Chicago THUG tactics. I hope you Idiots that voted for this FOREIGN FRAUD for President are happy watching our country go down the tubes.

Obama is a JOKE. I believe that he can sense that he is going to be a 1 term Disaster for our Country. The one thing that got him elected was the UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE and he now knows he can't even get that through. He has the money to throw away on GM and Chrysler but cannot come through for the American people. He has spent this Country into oblivion with nothing to show for it. He will be a footnote in History as a President who failed ! Now we are stuck with three more years of a LOSERS LEADERSHIP ! I hope the DUMOCRATS have learned their lesson. Generations of Americans are going to be paying for their mistake !!!

I wonder if Republicans think they will have a chance winning anything over the next 50 years with all Democrat voting blocks increasing their numbers (and Republicans increasingly alienating those groups) what chance do you have in the future.

Republicans have all but lost the Hispanic vote. we already know about the Black, Jewish, and Gay voting blocks. What can the republicans do to get back on the winning side of things. Traditional conservatives aren't reproducing quickly enough to counter balance the growth of minorities in all groups.

I don't know how Repubs are going to get back in the drivers seat, especially without the Latino vote. Remember Bush won in 2000 because he got 46% of the latin vote. could the Repubs push for immigration reform and enforcement in the 90's have the same effect on latino voters as the southern strategy of the 50's, 60's and 70's had on the black vote. Good luck in 2010, and 2012, but hating people won't get you more votes.

"I love those folks who helped get us in this mess and now say, 'This is Obama's economy,'" he said. “That’s fine. Give it to me. . . .My job is to solve problems. Not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.”

Is he joking----all he and his puppets in the media and Congress have been doing is griping about the mess they inherited. He said a few days ago that the economy is going exactly as planned. ha ha

What is Plan B, Prez?????? Isn't it time that you redesign the stimulus plan to cut taxes to businesses who are the ones that create jobs. The Reps had this one right from the beginning.

you people got exactly what you voted for and deserved. Decades of union no work high pay high benefit contracts.

Nafta courtesy of BillyBob and HillyBob.

generations of corrupt Dem politicians in cahoots with the auto industry.

now a Mao-Bama carbon tax to drive the final nail into your pull the straight D-Rat ticket lever brains.

can you live on 600 yuan a month and grow your own vegetables? do you speak Mandarin?

Please read my earlier post, and understand that the republicans actually have more enemies amongst the American people than friends. Do you think you can win elections going for only the suburban vote? Other, more colorful segments of the population are growing faster than your suburban voting block is. Face it, blacks and latins are out breeding you, and that = more votes.

I guess you can try and get the gays, jews, blacks and latins to vote for your party, but you're not going about it the right way. Good luck in 2010 and 2012.

DID ANYONE HEAR THE CHEERS FOR OBAMA AT THE ALL STAR GAME? AMAZING TIME TO BE ALIVE

you people got exactly what you voted for and deserved. Decades of union no work high pay high benefit contracts.

Nafta courtesy of BillyBob and HillyBob.

generations of corrupt Dem politicians in cahoots with the auto industry.

now a Mao-Bama carbon tax to drive the final nail into your pull the straight D-Rat ticket lever brains.

can you live on 600 yuan a month and grow your own vegetables? do you speak Mandarin?

Please read my earlier post, and understand that the republicans actually have more enemies amongst the American people than friends. Do you think you can win elections going for only the suburban vote? Other, more colorful segments of the population are growing faster than your suburban voting block is. Face it, blacks and latins are out breeding you, and that = more votes.

I guess you can try and get the gays, jews, blacks and latins to vote for your party, but you're not going about it the right way. Good luck in 2010 and 2012.

DID ANYONE HEAR THE CHEERS FOR OBAMA AT THE ALL STAR GAME? AMAZING TIME TO BE ALIVE